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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

Big Books and Bold Ideas

Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune. 

'Orpheus Girl,' painful and beautiful, puts a modern twist on myth

'Orpheus Girl,' painful and beautiful, puts a modern twist on myth

Author and poet Brynne Rebele-Henry transplants the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice to modern-day Texas, for a wrenching tale of two young women whose love lands them in a religious re-education camp.
by Alethea Kontis

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'An incredible depiction of small town life'

Bookseller Adah Fitzgeral recommends a novel that’s about “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.” It revolves around a small town near the coast in North Carolina, and a woman who lives life very much her own way.
by Tracy Mumford

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Nobel Prizes in Literature go to Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk

Nobel Prizes in Literature go to Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk

The Swedish Academy made the unusual move Thursday of recognizing both Handke, an Austrian writer, and Tokarczuk, who is Polish, after scandal prevented the committee from awarding a prize last year.
by Colin Dwyer

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How high school debate in 1990s Kansas explains the present: A novel argument

How high school debate in 1990s Kansas explains the present: A novel argument

Author Ben Lerner's new semi-autobiographical book, The Topeka School, finds a competitive-debate whiz kid navigating adolescence — and perhaps the precursors to today's American politics.
by Ari Shapiro

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Here are the finalists for the 2019 National Book Awards

Here are the finalists for the 2019 National Book Awards

The shortlists this year include Marlon James, Susan Choi, Carolyn Forché, Jason Reynolds and more than two dozen other authors and translators. Winners in five categories will be unveiled next month.
by Colin Dwyer

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In 'Tough Love,' former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice aims to reclaim her voice

In 'Tough Love,' former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice aims to reclaim her voice

The former national security adviser endured ridicule over comments made after the Benghazi embassy attack. Her book allows her tell her own story — and she is also open about foreign policy failures.
by Caitlyn Kim

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Zadie Smith has something for everyone in 'Grand Union'

Zadie Smith has something for everyone in 'Grand Union'

Smith's first short story collection is wide-ranging, covering everything from politics to murder to drag queens. Some of the slighter stories feel like footnotes, but many show off Smith at her best.
by Heller McAlpin

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